I had another commitment Thursday and didn’t watch the Braves. Judging from the traffic on this site yesterday, you probably didn’t see it either.

I assume y’all can find summaries of the action (or lack thereof) elsewhere on the interwebs. From reading those summaries myself, it appears to have been a second consecutive game in which we need to tip our caps to the opponent’s starting pitcher. Except that Jason Vargas is no Jacob DeGrom. The Degrominator is eminently cap-tip worthy; the guy last night dropped his season ERA to 5.77.

In one sense yesterday’s game was not important. At this point getting ready for the playoffs is all that matters. It’s good to get some guys rest and see what some guys on the playoff roster bubble can do. But how the Braves play in these last few games is not any kind of indicator of how they will play next week in the most important games in 5 years.

The one impact of winning or losing at this point is possible home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. We know the Braves will play the West Division winner in the first round. That pennant race (the West, that is) is going down to the wire. Right now the Rockies have a one game lead on the Dodgers with 3 to play. Even more interesting, the loser of the race may not make the playoffs at all, with the Cardinals only one game behind the Dodgers for the second wild card.

The Braves are tied with the Rockies and one game up on the Dodgers. Because the Braves have losing records against both teams, they must finish with a better overall record against either to gain home field advantage. I know the Braves have been better on the road this year, but I’d still rather open and close a five game series at home.

This is my last regular season Thursday recap, but what a regular season it has been, starting with that Thursday opening night thriller in Philly. We don’t know where they will be playing, but we know the first postseason game is next Thursday—so I feel a heightened sense of responsibility. I should spend the next week resting and focusing and getting ready.

Some folks will say the Braves have too many holes to go very far this October (especially if Dansby’s injury keeps him out). But the playoffs really are a crapshoot; what the hell, it’s about time the Braves drew some luck in October. I predict they go all the way and beat the Red Sox in seven.

I fail to see how a history of losing game 1 in the playoffs is relevant for this team. There are very few players and FO personnel around now that were part of our last game 1 loss.

They very well may lose game 1, but it won’t be because that’s what the Braves do. It will be because we have a good but inexperienced team and we don’t have a dominant starter to pitch for game 1 like some of the other teams. Folty can get there at times, but he is definitely no DeGrom.

Phils coming in on a 8-game losing streak. Almost so much that you feel sorry for them. They have to sweep us to finish .500 so they may be out for blood. While we’re on cruise control.

I think it’s way more important that the Rockies and the Cards keep the Dodgers out of the playoffs. They are still the most dangerous team statistically and they don’t have the same injury problems as earlier in the year.

Julio pitched well, going 6 strong. The loss hangs on the pen’s poor performance in the 7th. Biddle gave put the first to batters on via single and a walk. He got an out, was relieved by Brach who got a second out, but Devin Mesoraco got into a pinch hit three run homer before the could get out of it.

Since we’re at least ironically tipping our hats, it’s worth noting that after a brutal mid-summer run that essentially eliminated them from any contention whatsoever, the Mets have been a relatively good team in the second half. 12-12 in July. 15-15 in August. 16-9 in September. 36-29 (.554) overall.

Atlanta has had a .569 winning percentage in the 2nd half. Washington clocks in at .524. The Phils’ .391 is barely better than Miami’s .350 mark.

Which is a long winded way of saying, ironic or not for the cap tipping, the Mets have been the second best team in the division since the end of June. (They lost the division and any hope of a playoff run in June, when they went an abysmal 5-21.)

There’s not much to talk about with so much of the position players and starting rotation set. But I think so much talk about the bullpen is not necessarily because there’s nothing else to talk about, but that it could be the difference between advancing or not.

The more I think about it, the more I don’t think even the last spots of the pen matter that much. You’re going to throw Minter, Vizzy, Brach, Sobotka, Venters, and Biddle back-to-back without hesitation, so you’re not going to get to anyone that is currently inspiring less confidence like Winkler, Carle, and Freeman. Are they really going to throw 6-7 guys in one game? That doesn’t seem like a Snit move. If he manages differently in the postseason than he does in the regular season, then maybe he’s not exactly like Bobby after all.

While the target of the inquiry could not be confirmed by Yahoo Sports, sources said investigators have subpoenaed at least one former Atlanta Braves official as well as people involved with the signing of Cuban star Hector Olivera, who agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers before being traded to the Braves. Multiple witnesses have agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to sources.

Looking more and more like Toussaint will be on NLDS roster, either as long reliever or starter. Snitker said today they might want to carry two long relievers.— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) September 28, 2018

@28 my eye test tells me that Kakes has been worth more than that in the second half. MAybe his defense lost a step and he didn’t hit a lot of EBH but he has been a consistent hitter and gotten hits at very opportune times. There were times when only he and Freddie were hitting.

Here’s an interesting tidbit. Of the 8 positions other than pitcher, the Braves have earned at least 3 WAR at all of them except RF and SS. And Nick has 2.6 WAR. In order to improve at just about any position, the Braves will have to replace a 2.6 WAR (excluding Dansby) or more player with someone who can earn more, say 5-6 WAR. That seems to me a pretty tall order and requires only targeting true star players. Moving a 2-3 WAR player to the bench (or to UTIL) will be a huge improvement for the bench, too.

For example, replacing Nick with Duvall doesn’t work because Duvall’s best season has been 2.5 WAR. Need someone like Harper or Pollock.

What a pleasant contrast to be welcoming the 90th win while at this time last year – in Miami – we played the 162nd game in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the 90th loss for the third successive year.

If you let Teheran eat innings the first few months and stick with the plan to provide an extra day of rest whenever possible, you're less likely to end up in a position where you may need to limit the younger arms down the stretch